David Bushnell was born near Saybrook,
Connecticut, on August 30, 1740, the first of five
children born to Nehemiah and Sarah Ingham Bushnell. He
spent his childhood and early adulthood working on the
family farm, but also took time to educate himself as
much as he could. After his father died (about 1769),
Bushnell sold his share of the farm to his brother Ezra,
moved to town, and studied to enter Yale College. Despite
being 31 years old and having little (if any) formal
education, he was accepted into Yale in 1771.

In addition to studying
"traditional subjects," Bushnell took advantage
of Yale's extensive library to study mechanics and other
physical sciences. He also found time to conduct
experiments, some of which involved proving that
gunpowder could be detonated under water, as well as
using a timer to trigger a gunpowder explosion. During
his final year at Yale, he spent his last penny
constructing a manned submarine capable of employing
weapons. Built entirely of oak beams, the elliptical
craft resembled two conjoined turtle shells, earning it
the name "Turtle."

Bushnell's graduation in the summer of 1775 coincided
with the beginning of the Revolutionary War, and some in
the Continental Congress felt that Bushnell's weapon
could be effective at breaking the British naval blockade
of New York City. On September 6, 1776, the Turtle,
piloted by Sergeant Ezra Lee of the Continental Army, was
sent to attack the HMS Eagle, the flagship of
British Admiral William
Howe. While Lee was not able to attach the explosive
to the ship, he was able to detonate the charge. And,
while the explosive failed to damage a single British
ship, it did lead Howe to move the blockade further away
from the coast.

drawing of the Turtle, based on contemporary
accounts

After two more unsuccessful attempts at using the Turtle
to place and detonate mines, Bushnell decided to turn his
attention to the mines themselves. On August 13, 1777, he
set two mines afloat in Black Point Bay, in Connecticut.
The captain of the HMS Cerebus avoided destruction
by simply cutting the rope carrying the mines, but they
did destroy a nearby schooner. Later that same year
Bushnell devised a mine suspended by wooden kegs that
would detonate on contact. In late December the kegs were
sent down the Delaware River toward British ships at
anchor near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Unfortunately,
most of the fleet had sailed. While the mines were
unsuccessful in destroying their intended targets, they
did detonate, frightening the enemy into firing at any
object floating in the river. The combination of
submarine and floating mine attacks checked the dominance
of the Royal Navy. In August 1779 Bushnell was appointed
a Captain-Lieutenant in the Corps of Sappers and Miners,
predecessor of the modern-day Corps of Engineers. Later
promoted to the rank of Captain, he participated in the Siege and Battle of
Yorktown in the fall of 1781.

With peace declared in late 1783 Bushnell was
honorably discharged and returned to Saybrook. He
abruptly left Saybrook in 1787, however, under the
pretext of traveling to France to continue his underwater
experiments. Exactly what he did in France is still
unknown, however, as is the length of time he spent
there. In 1803, a man named David Bush bought a lot in
Warrenton, Warren County, Georgia. When Warrenton was
incorporated in 1810, Bush was a commissioner, and by
1818 he was a practicing physician. Sometime in January
or early February 1826, Bush died. In his will, Bush
revealed himself as David Bushnell, inventor of the
submarine. Found among his belongings after his death was
"some curious machinery" that was believed to
be a model for a torpedo. Why Bushnell relocated to
Georgia and changed his name remain mysteries to this
day.